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Acting Pennsylvania Banking Secretary Victoria A. Reider has sent a letter alerting the commonwealth's mortgage companies about new guidelines outlining acceptable conduct for the state's 3,000 lenders and brokers.The new guidelines are part of an effort to protect consumers looking for home loans, the department said. They offer examples and definitions of practices considered dishonest, fraudulent, illegal, unfair, unethical, negligent, or incompetent. Companies that fail to conform to the new guidelines could face suspension, revocation, or nonrenewal of their licenses. The Department of Banking said it is also crafting regulations and seeking legislative reforms to better protect consumers. The changes mirror recommendations outlined in a 2005 report to the General Assembly, "Losing the American Dream: A Report on Residential Mortgage Foreclosures and Abusive Lending Practices in Pennsylvania."

Class B5 of Structured Adjustable Rate Mortgage Loan Trust residential mortgage-backed certificates, series 2004-11, has been downgraded from B to CC/DR3 and removed from Rating Watch Negative by Fitch Ratings.Fitch also upgraded two classes and affirmed the ratings on three others in the transaction. The downgrade was attributed to a deterioration in the relationship between credit enhancement and expected losses. The transaction consists of adjustable-rate conventional mortgage loans.

Two classes of Terwin RMBS Trust securities have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.Class B-5 of series 2005-5SL has been downgraded from BB to CCC and removed from Rating Watch Negative, and class B-7PI of series 2005-7SL has been downgraded from BB to B. In addition, the downgraded B-5 class has been assigned a Distressed Recovery rating of DR2, and class B-6 of series 2005-7SL has been placed on Rating Watch Negative. Fitch also affirmed the ratings on 18 other classes in the two transactions. The negative rating actions were based on declines in overcollateralization stemming from losses and "a reduction in the dollar amount of excess spread due to much faster-than-expected prepayments and rising interest rates," Fitch said. The collateral for the transaction is fixed-rate subprime loans secured by second-lien mortgages on residential properties.

Two classes of Structured Asset Security Corp. residential mortgage-backed certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.Class B4 of series 2005-S1 was downgraded from CC/DR4 to C/DR5, and class B2 of series 2005-S2 was downgraded from BB to B and removed from Rating Watch Negative. Fitch also placed class B3 of series 2005-S1 on Rating Watch Negative and affirmed the ratings on 23 classes in the two SASCO transactions. The downgrades were attributed to a deterioration in the relationship between credit enhancement and expected losses. The pool consists of fixed-rate, fully amortizing and balloon, second-lien residential mortgage loans.

Seven classes of Structured Asset Investment Loan Trust residential mortgage-backed certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: series 2003-BC8, class M4, from BBB-plus to BBB, class M5, from BBB to BB, and class B, from BBB-minus to BB-minus; and series 2003-BC12, class M4, from BBB-plus to BBB, class M5, from BBB to BB-plus, class M6, from BBB-minus to BB-plus, and class B, from BB to B. In addition, Fitch affirmed the ratings on 13 classes from the two SAIL transactions. The rating agency attributed the downgrades to a deterioration in the relationship between credit enhancement and expected losses due to higher-than-expected delinquencies and losses and to a shortfall in overcollateralization. The pool consists of fixed- and adjustable-rate, fully amortizing and balloon, first- and second-lien residential mortgage loans.

Seven classes from three issues of CDC Mortgage Capital Trust mortgage pass-through certificates have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings.The downgrades were as follows: series 2002-HE3, class M2, from A to BBB, and class B1, from B-plus to CC; series 2003-HE1, class M3, from A to BBB-plus, class B1, from BB-plus to B-plus, and class B2, from B-plus to C; and series 2003-HE2, class B2, from BB-plus to BB, and class B3, from BB-minus to B-plus. In addition, Fitch affirmed the ratings on seven classes from the three CDC deals and assigned Distressed Recovery ratings of DR3 to class B1 of series 2002-HE3 and DR6 to class B2 of series 2003-HE1. The rating agency attributed the downgrades to a deterioration in the relationship between credit enhancement and expected losses. The pools consist of fixed- and adjustable-rate subprime mortgages on one- to four-family residential properties. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Freddie Mac has announced the pricing of $1.1 billion of fixed-rate noncumulative perpetual preferred stock at $25 per share.The 44 million shares (CUSIP: 313400673) bear a dividend rate of 5.57%, the government-sponsored enterprise said. Freddie Mac said it will have the option to redeem all or part of the shares on or after Dec. 31, 2011, at $25 per share plus accrued dividends. The preferred stock is being offered via a syndicate of dealers headed by Goldman, Sachs & Co. and JPMorgan.

Foreclosure.com, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based provider of foreclosure property listings, has created the Housing Outreach Partner Effort to provide nonprofit and government organizations with free access to its database of more than 1.2 million distressed real estate listings.The goal of the HOPE program is to provide the organizations with a resource they can use to help families find affordable housing alternatives, the company said. In addition, Foreclosure.com chief executive Brad Geisen said municipal, county, and state government agencies can leverage the data to plot foreclosure activity in their areas. The company can be found online at http://www.foreclosure.com.

Four classes from two Ameriquest Mortgage Securities Inc. home equity issues have been downgraded by Fitch Ratings, and one class has been placed on Rating Watch Negative.The downgrades were as follows: series 2003-2, class M3, from BBB-minus to BB-minus, and class M4, from BB to CCC/DR5; and series 2004-R4, class M5, from BBB to BBB-minus, and class M6, from BBB-minus to BB-minus. Class M4 of series 2004-R4 was placed on Rating Watch Negative. In addition, Fitch affirmed the ratings on 17 classes from three Ameriquest transactions. The downgrades were attributed to monthly losses that have exceeded excess spread, causing a deterioration in the amount of overcollateralization. Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Washington Mutual Inc., Seattle, has announced that it will securitize subprime mortgage loans originated by its Long Beach Mortgage division under its WaMu Asset Acceptance Corp. shelf registration in 2007.The name "Long Beach Mortgage Loan Trust" will no longer be used for new securitizations, WaMu said. The thrift noted that the WaMu Asset Acceptance registration is also used for its prime, alternative-A conduit, and subprime conduit securitizations. The new trusts will be designated "WaMu Asset-Backed Certificates, WaMu Series 200X-HEX Trust," WaMu said. Doug Potolsky, WaMu's senior vice president of subprime capital markets, said "many changes" have been made in Long Beach's business model and operations since it was consolidated into WaMu, and "this is a logical next step." The company can be found on the Web at http://www.wamu.com.